In the blink of an eye, a month had passed, and the twins had reached their full moon.
Chen Changping hosted a full-moon celebration for the two boys, inviting friends and family to come and drink.
Most of the guests who came to congratulate brought their sons and grandsons; six tables couldn't accommodate them all, so Chen Changping set up an open shed in the courtyard, arranging several more tables.
"Changping, congratulations,"
said a villager who brought a few eggs to the celebration, teasing, "Who would have thought, boy, you wouldn't have any, and then you have two sons at once? What's that called? Building up momentum for a sudden success, truly amazing, haha."
Chen Changping chuckled heartily and gave the villager a fist-and-palm salute, "Your praise is too generous. Please, go inside and take a seat, the banquet is about to begin."
"Alright, alright, you go ahead, you're busy."
The villager entered the main hall and brought the gift to the ledger desk for Chen Erlang, who was keeping the accounts, to register.
Just then, a few more guests arrived, and Chen Changping hurriedly went to greet them...
In the kitchen, the Jiang family's daughters-in-law, Xu Chunniang, and her sisters-in-law from her maiden family, were cooking and steaming rice, bustling with activity. A few neighboring women sat on small stools, helping to sort and wash the vegetables while chatting about family matters.
Children ran around in the courtyard, laughing and playing.
For a time, Chen Changping's home was bustling with people coming and going, an extremely lively scene.
Inside the house, Yingbao kept watch over her two younger brothers' cradle, spinning a rattle-drum for them to see.
Xiaolu Youyou lay obediently at her feet, opening her naïve big eyes to look around, silently ruminating the food in her mouth.
Dani, Erni, and Yuanbao also gathered around the cradle, craning their necks to look at the two identical little cousins.
"This is the elder brother, Jiang Jie, and this one with the round face is the second brother, Jiang Wu,"
Yingbao tirelessly introduced the twin brothers to everyone who came to see the children, helping them to tell them apart.
Yuanbao blinked, still confused, "But their faces are both round."
Dani smacked her brother gently, "Silly! Clearly one has a round face and the other not quite."
Erni giggled in agreement, "Exactly!"
Yuanbao scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit wronged.
Soon, Jiang Jie in the cradle started to grow impatient, shaking his head and whimpering in cries, followed by Jiang Wu's cries as well.
Once the two little ones started crying, the three siblings panicked, hurrying to call their third aunt.
Yingbao, however, remained calm, gently patting and soothing her brothers while softly muttering, "Xiaojie, Dawu must be hungry, don't worry, mom will be here soon to feed you."
Xu Chunniang hurried over, picked up one and sat down, lifting her clothes to nurse.
The other cried even louder, as if quite indignant.
Left with no choice, Xu Chunniang had to hold both sons, nursing one on each side.
After eating their fill, the two little ones fell asleep contentedly.
Grandma Jiang entered and said to her daughter-in-law, "You should rest with the children. You've just finished your confinement, don't tire yourself. You don't need to worry about things outside; your older and second sisters-in-law are managing everything."
Xu Chunniang, indeed tired, nodded, "Alright, I'll lie down for a bit. I'll leave the kitchen to the care of my sisters-in-law."
Grandma Jiang hummed in approval, then turned to pull Yingbao along, "Yingbao, go out and play with your brothers and sisters. Your mom will take care of your brothers."
"Okay."
Seeing her little owner leave, Youyou quickly got up to follow.
So, following behind Yingbao was a deer, with Dani, Erni, and Yuanbao providing an escort. Together, they went out to the courtyard to play.
Actually, there wasn't much to play with outside; the weather was getting colder, the tree leaves had fallen, and even the ants and insects were no longer visible.
It wouldn't be long before snow fell.
But the children didn't see it that way; they could happily run around on bamboo poles all day.
No sooner had they left the courtyard than the village children crowded around, all chattering about Youyou, with some even reaching out to touch.
Yingbao reminded them, "Don't touch its rump carelessly, beware of being kicked by Youyou."
Now, Youyou was no longer the fawn it once was; it had grown very large, much bigger than the average mountain deer, with strong limbs, almost like a small pony.
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If they put on a saddle and attached reins, the children could even ride her like a horse.
Yingbao indeed had this idea, but having a saddle custom-made would cost quite a bit of silver coin, so she shelved the idea for the time being.
The children quickly withdrew their hands, chirping and chattering as they circled around Youyou, their faces filled with envy.
This deer had become famous in the village, and every child had watched her, most having touched her, too—even the kids from Xichen Village often came over just to catch a glimpse of Youyou's beauty.
Yingbao had also seen Chen Changping's two daughters come over, but she felt no ripples in her heart.
What belonged to the past life stayed in the past life, and she didn't want to have anything to do with them now.
"Are you Yingbao?"
A haggard village woman stood not far away, her eyes staring intently at Yingbao.
Without turning her head, Yingbao knew who the woman speaking was.
It was her estranged mother, Han Juniang, who had apparently been watching from the sidelines for who knows how long.
Yingbao was startled but quickly composed herself, pretending not to hear, and turned to Yuanbao, "Brother Yuanbao, can I go to your place to read?"
She had already learned the Three Character Classic from Yuanbao, and was currently reading the Thousand Character Classic and the Hundred Family Surnames. She believed that soon, she would be able to write openly and with pride.
"Sure," Yuanbao agreed without hesitation.
With his little cousin gone to study, Youyou was now his responsibility.
Seeing Yingbao about to leave, the woman took a few steps forward to block her path and asked again, "You are Yingbao, right? Do you know who your real parents are?"
Yingbao rolled her eyes, "My real parents are Jiang Sanlang and Xu Chunniang. Who are you? Why are you blocking my way?"
Han Juniang wiped away non-existent tears, her voice trembling with emotion, "No! They are not your real parents..."
Yingbao didn't wait for her to finish, grabbed Yuanbao's hand, and ran towards the eldest uncle's house, shouting back, "Bad woman!"
Han Juniang stood frozen on the spot.
Yingbao rushed into the eldest uncle's house, gasping for breath. Seeing Youyou and her cousins had followed, she quickly told them to close the courtyard door.
At that time, nobody was at the eldest uncle's house. Grandpa, Grandma, the eldest uncle, and aunt had all gone to her own house to help out, and neither of the elder male cousins was at home.
Yingbao clutched her chest, trying to catch her breath, her head a bit muddled.
Why did that woman dare to come so early?
It wasn't like this in her previous life, where she remembered that the Han Family first came when she was a little over four years old.
Yingbao looked down at her wrist.
The birthmark was still there, not yet removed. She couldn't let that woman make her point clear.
"Why did you scold her?" Dani asked, puzzled. She recognized that woman from Xichen Village.
Being a few years older, Dani understood what the woman was implying and scolded her sister with a glare, "If she dares to sow discord, she is a bad woman!"
Everyone in the family knew that Yingbao was not the biological child of uncle Sanlang, but what of it? As long as uncle Sanlang and aunt Chunniang treated her as their own, that was enough.
That woman speaking such words was trying to drive a wedge between Yingbao and uncle Sanlang and aunt Chunniang.
"Oh." Dani, still only six years old and a bit confused, knew that the family needed to stand united, and nodded vigorously, "Then we should tell uncle Sanlang." To deal with that bad woman.
Dani also harbored this thought, asking Yingbao, "Shall we go find uncle Sanlang?"
Yingbao shook her head, "Not for now."
Today was her younger brother's full-moon celebration, and there were so many guests at home; she couldn't give Han Juniang the opportunity to expose the truth in front of everyone.
Presumably, Han Juniang didn't have the face to say it herself; that's why she came to find her, hoping to find a breakthrough by talking to a child.
"What if she is still outside?" Dani, though sensible, was only nine and had never encountered such a situation, feeling a bit uneasy.
Yuanbao, peering through a crack in the door, whispered, "The bad woman is not outside."
He turned to his little cousin and patted his chest, "I'll go out and see if she has left."
"Okay, you go. But don't talk to her, and don't call out to anyone," Yingbao instructed.
"Got it, I'll just take a quick look," Yuanbao said, leading Youyou out the door.
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